We might be known for our  Minnesota ‘Niceness’ but one eminent Wisconsin festival thinks what the Twins just didn’t isn’t very nice at all– and has taken them to court.
The Minnesota Twins just staged the first-ever TC Summer Fest over the past weekend. The two-day festival at Target Field was billed as ‘the Biggest Rock Weekend of the Year’ in Minnesota, and featured performances by headling groups the Killers and the Imagine Dragons, as well as other acts including the Flaming Lips, Death Cab For Cutie, Oliver Tree, Chelsea Cutter and more.
But while the festival itself might be done, the legal action surrounding the festival is just getting started. That’s because the OTHER Summerfest– the one that’s been around over in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for over 50 years– has sued the Twins over their utilize of the name ‘Summer Fest.’
READ MORE: This Common Household Item is Now Illegal in Minnesota
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Summerfest, the annual three-weekend bonanza that bills itself as the World’s Largest Music Festival, has ‘filed a federal lawsuit citing trademark infringement against the Minnesota Twins baseball organization,’ the story said.
Wisconsin’s Summerfest, which has been holding its summer festival since 1968 isn’t kidding around with how seriously they’re taking this name thing. WISN TV in Milwaukee says Summerfest first trademarked that familiar name in 1972, then got a Summerfest merchandise trademark in 1993. And they say that, given the relative closeness between the two festivals, people in both Minnesota and Wisconsin WERE confusing the two events.
Target Field during TC Summer Fest (Jessica Williams-TSM/Rochester MN)
Making it even worse, Summerfest says, was the fact that the band Imagine Dragons played BOTH festivals this year. They played at Summerfest in Wisconsin on July 8, and then played TC Summer Fest in Minneapolis a week later, on July 15, 2023.
The Journal-Sentinel says Summerfest has been consistent in the defense of their trademarked name, having sent out “32 cease and desist letters to various entities in the past incorporating the Summerfest trademarks or similar marks since April of 2022,” the story said, with 21 of those who received a letter either changing their name or working through licensing options, the story said.
So will the Twins have to rebrand their TC Summer Fest for next year? Or will they enter into a licensing agreement with Milwaukee World Festival Inc., the parent company of Summerfest, to continue using the name Summer Fest in 2024? We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out in court, I guess.
Meanwhile, speaking of names that can get you into trouble, did you know there are several baby names that are illegal in various parts of the world, including here in  Minnesota? Keep scrolling to check them out!
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